It is known in motor vehicles to preassemble various hardware elements of the vehicle door onto a stamped steel module panel which is then subsequently attached to the vehicle door in the assembly plant. The advantage of such a modular construction is that that door hardware elements such as the window regulator, door latch, door handle and other door components may be preassembled and pretested prior to shipment to the assembly line.
It would be desirable to provide such a hardware modular arrangement in which the door latch could be preassembled to the door module for convenience in testing and shipping and yet the module and door latch could be separately bolted to the vehicle door structure as necessary to perform their respective functions and in spite of any dimensional variations which might exist between the doors in which the module is to be mounted.